Dr. Shweta Dabetwar
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
BEGINNING INTERESTS
I loved research from the very beginning and didn’t have very strong feelings about teaching, so I was not sure if I wanted to become a professor – because you have to balance both research and teaching when you are in a tenure track. It was not until I was in the process of making that decision that I seriously thought about teaching, and I concluded that I don’t have any feelings about it, so I can teach, no problem! But when I started teaching, I realized I really feel very strongly about mentorship and teaching. Teaching is not limited to completing your syllabus and teaching a few concepts; it is also about instilling morals and creating a foundation for professionalism. Now I can say that the days I have my classes are some of my best days!
CAREER EVOLUTION
I was always in STEM. It was a very obvious choice in India, considering I wanted to follow the engineering path. However, I realized in the United States, STEAM was very imbalanced in terms of gender, and I was surprised to see that.
LOVE THE WORK
The research aspect is what I absolutely live for! I get to play the crazy scientist that we all have seen in those science-related shows! I find something exciting, I start working on it and solve some problems in this process. I get to help our world a bit! I also get to meet a lot of people, especially my students! I get to teach them how to do research and watch them grow into professionals. The students in my class are my favorite people; they are funny, intelligent, and curious beings. I enjoy teaching them new things in a very interesting manner.
ADVICE
STEAM knowledge is a learned knowledge, and no one is born with it. Yes, you probably have to put a bit of extra work into understanding it, but honestly, even the best scientists in the world don’t understand 70% of the science that human intelligence has been able to gather. Women can do equally or even better in STEAM than anyone else.
